Why Does 3DS Not Sell Too Well In The West?

[Kasz216]

MontanaHatchet said:
Handheld systems are naturally more popular in Japan than the west. In order for handhelds to achieve breakthrough sales in America and Europe, they generally have to offer games which have widespread appeal and broaden the market. With the original Gameboy, this was achieved primarily through Pokemon Red/Blue and Tetris. Conversely, with the DS, this explosive growth was achieved through games like Brain Training and Nintendogs.

With the 3DS, Nintendo's strategy seems to be to release traditional series such as Mario, Pokemon, and Zelda to sustain sales. This is fine, except the market isn't being expanded. With the popularity of mobile gaming as well as ongoing economic problems, the 3DS will naturally lose DS owners who will decide not to upgrade. Nintendo could mitigate this by attempting to expand the market with blue ocean games, but they are currently releasing the exact same types of games they've been releasing for decades (those from their core series). Games from traditional, core Nintendo series such as Mario and Zelda will attract long time Nintendo fans and those who enjoyed the most recent iterations, but buyers will be lost through attrition.

This is one of the reasons that the N64 sold less than the SNES, and the Gamecube sold less than the N64. A large part of it was increased competition, but a perhaps even more important aspect of it was that Nintendo wasn't expanding their audience. The N64 released the same types of Mario/Donkey Kong/Zelda games as the SNES, and the Gamecube followed suit with its predecessor. It wasn't until Nintendo released the Wii and brought audience expanding games like Wii Sports/Fit/Play that hardware sales increased significantly. The new expanded audience that these games brought also purchased various traditional Nintendo games, which can be seen in the high sales of games like Mario Kart Wii and New Super Mario Bros.

Another factor to consider is that while the DS had gameplay innovations with its double screen and touch controls, the 3DS doesn't have this same advantage. Its main feature (3D visuals) doesn't offer significant changes in gaming or interface control. If one examines the Wii U, it offers a gameplay innovation in the tablet controller, but its library also seems to be primarily made up of traditional Nintendo series. However, its controller offers opportunities for innovation. The 3DS, in many respects, has painted itself into a corner. It doesn't offer much to bring in new gamers.

This.... PLUS the fact that Cellphone games have ALWAYS been popular in Japan.

Cellphones got a Final Fantasy 4 Spin-off for example... that has to eat in the market some.

Not as much for people who already own DS, so the price to buy a game is the same... but those who have to invest further in 3DS hardware?